Patents: Time for a change

PETER WILLS of Cheltenham has filed a British patent application (2 207 530) on a new kind of mechanical clock. Mechanical clocks use a pendulum which swings backwards and forwards at a fixed rate and trips a release mechanism, each swing allowing a gear to move on one notch and turn the hands.

In a conventional clock the pendulum must be pushed from side to side to keep it swinging. Wills believes it is easier to keep the pendulum swinging by periodically lifting and lowering its support. This has exactly the same mechanical effect as pushing from the side.

The easiest way of moving the support is to mount it on a block which tilts under the action of a cam turned by a motor that moves in steps. The stepping motor is controlled by pulses from a sensor which detects each swing of the pendulum.

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